


Cabin Boy

by RZWrites



Category: One Piece
Genre: Self-Insert, Sick Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-13
Updated: 2020-07-13
Packaged: 2021-03-04 21:09:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,813
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25232932
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RZWrites/pseuds/RZWrites
Summary: This is another self insert with the Heart Pirates, this time around however, R is a twelve years old boy, plagued by a genetic disease.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 17





	Cabin Boy

R, twelve years of age and very sick, having an attack of all things of his genetic disease, looked around the unfamiliar place he was in. He was pale as a sheet, his own body attacking itself, destroying his own kidneys. He wasn't in any pain, he actually couldn't even feel that he was sick because of the nature of his disease, but you could tell it right away. And now he was on a street he didn't recognise, with people screaming and pointing at him. Telling one another not to touch him because he'd infect them with his sickness. He blinked. "I'm.. It's not- it's not contagious", he told them weakly, but none of them would listen to him. He was ready to cry, he didn't want to be there, it was cold, it was scary, the people were unkind and scary.  
Before long, the tears started falling as he kept stuttering about his sickness not being contagious.  
He was so afraid.  
He was so scared of humans, now even more than usual.

Trafalgar Law, a doctor and a captain of a pirate ship, aged twenty-three, was taking a stroll around Sabaody, he'd have few days before the more interesting things would happen, so he figured out that he'd have a look around. His sensitive hearing picked up angry yells from another street, accompanied by the sounds of objects hitting a stone wall. Intrigued by this, the tattooed man itched closer.  
"P-please listen to me ladies, gentlemen! I can't infect anyone! It's genetic not- ACK!" a stone hit the small body of a child whose vocabulary was a lot more advanced than anyone of his age should've. Law's eyes widened. The child was so small and seemed to be badly sick, his or her face was sunken yet stomach bloated, it was as if the body couldn't filter the fluids well. He'd never seen anything like it before. Another stone flew through the air, hitting the child on their head. The force of it was enough to make the kid stumble before they'd fall over thanks to a piece of scrap wood.  
The child laid down on the ground, unmoving. But Law knew that he wasn't dead, he was just laying down so the people wouldn't throw things at him anymore, so they'd leave. After a while of staring at the child as if he was a free freak show before slowly walking away.

Law walked forward and upon hearing him approach, the sick one curled into a ball, their hands over their head, trying to protect it from any future hits. The kid was shaking, both from cold and the adrenaline that was now leaving his body slowly, making him feel extra cold. "There's no need for that, I'm not here to hurt you", he said as gently to the kid as he could, "I am a doctor, what is this talk about not being contagious?". The child slowly raised their head and Law was taken back, not by the slowly forming bruises nor the chipped lower lip but rather the big amber eyes that looked like a pair of yellow orbs thanks to the street lights reflecting from them. And more over, the fear in them.  
"Will you take me to the hospital and then leave me there all alone?" the voice seemed to come from somewhere far, that's how silent and weak it was, weaker than a faint whisper, and the child was right in front of him. Law blinked. He then shook his head slowly, this kid clearly was traumatised by the very idea, potentially the only survivor of his family. "No, I am not that kind of doctor, I also happen to be a captain of a pirate crew", he's not sure what made him tell the child that, but the second he did, the kid relaxed.

Sometimes, you do things you can't explain as to why. For Law, it was carrying the cold and potentially dying child back to Polar Tang as the boy whispered into his ear what was wrong with him, crying as he did so. Usually he'd be put off by the feel of something wet soaking his clothes, but this time, he found that he didn't mind. Maybe he saw a reflection of himself in the boy, maybe he was moved by him, he didn't know, be he was damn sure that he'd cure him.  
As Law entered the submarine, he was greeted by confused crew, each of its members taking turns in asking who the boy was. Frankly, he didn't know, hadn't cared in the situation. The kid had been suffering and that'd been enough for him to take him there. He couldn't really ask the boy either; he'd fallen asleep on his arms a bit before they'd arrived and as a doctor Law knew more than enough of the importance of sleeping when it came to healing. He laid the child down, working quietly, quickly and efficiently, to figure out what was going on. From the way the boy had described his sickness, it was clear that it wasn't contagious, it had been a genetic disorder, most likely a type of autoimmunity disease, but the child had no idea what his body was destroying. And it had needed a trigger, the first time it had been a type of fungi, a mold or sort. The kid had called it "mold mushroom" and apparently its spores had caused him to have the attack last time.

From the scan he'd learned to do recently, he saw that the boy's body was rejecting its own kidneys, but they weren't in too bad of a shape. They were actually quite healthy which was interesting based on the knowledge he had. But there was a problem. He'd have to keep the boy in a room that'd be as clean as it could. Because in order to save him, he'd have to reset his immune system, which could turn even the common flu a deadly disease for the boy. He calmly. Explained the situation to his crew, that started immediately turning one of the rooms into a fitting recovery station for the little boy.

When R woke up from the cozy cabin, he panicked at first. He then remembered what had happened the day before, though some of his memories were foggy. The boy looked to his right, where he saw the machine he'd mostly seen only in movies and TV shows. What was it called again? Drop? Errr... Salt water dropping bag..? Salt... Salt.. Sall.. Saline....bag...? That was it! Saline bag! The door on his left opened slowly and the man from last night walked in, and from behind him, R could see few other people who were peeking in curiously. They were all wearing white jumpsuits, which made the child think of that kids movie with the monsters turning screams into electricity, especially the special forces in their yellow overalls.  
"How are you feeling kid?" the man asked, R now noticed the tattoos on his hands. It looked like the letters on his fingers were supposed to spell something, but one of them was missing from each finger. "I'm fine mister Doctor".

Law was taken back by the boy's politeness, it made him think that he'd saved a noble or sort, probably one who'd been disowned once his sickness had been found out about. "Trafalgar Law", he introduced himself to the boy, who tilted his head in thought. "Trafalgar sir?" he felt like dying in the inside, this kid was being too polite. "You can just call me Law", "That'd be disrespectful, mom told me that you need to be polite towards people even if you don't like them". Wh.. What was up with this kid? "It's going to be just easier for you to call me that since you'll probably end up staying with us for some time, or at least until you've recovered", Law said as he rubbed his neck, he'd been reading and writing down notes about the boy's sickness the entire night and thanks to that his back and shoulders were stiff, "So what should we call you?".  
The boy fell silent. His eyes were untrusting and confused. He took a look around the cabin, evaluating it in and out. "My name is.... Um... Is it okay if I use a nickname instead? I'm not... Really comfortable with unknown people knowing my name", Law agreed, "Okay so uh.. Call me R... Do you think that there's anything I can do in here while I get healthy again?". It was a reasonable question, Law shot a glance at the doorway, knowing that his crew was eavesdropping the conversation. "I think that we'd be able to find you some books and maybe a pen and paper?" the sound of scrambling coming from behind the door told him that several people had ran off to get the items. How typical of them to get attached so easily.

"So, how old are you?", "Twelve".  
Law's brows shot up in surprise, his initial guess would've been nine at most. The kid was so small and fragile looking. But also... His scan had told him that the kid's DNA wasn't quite the same as the most people of this world. So... Perhaps... He was an alien of sort. "I guess that means that I need to be your brother from now on", "Pass, I already have a big family, I don't need more siblings, especially older ones".  
How unexpected...  
"Why not?" Law asked, curious of the boy's reasoning. A flash of pain ran across the child's face. "Older siblings are mean, they say bad things, draw on top of your drawings and then they tell you that you look funny and weird. And they never play with you", it was such a lonely statement, and the boy stayed quiet for a long time. It looked like he'd cry any second now. Law placed his hand on the child's head, slowly ruffling the bright red hair. It'd been a long time since he'd done something like this. Too long. He told the boy to rest, he'd wake him up when the food would be ready.

As he left the room, he came face to face with Bepo, Shachi and Penguin, all of whom seemed to be ready to cry over something. He winked them to follow, they needed to be present at the auction that'd take place today.  
As Law walked forward, he was more than sure that the boy had somehow ended up there from another world entirely, but he didn't know how to break it down to him.

How'd you even begin to explain that someone was alone in a new and scary world, let alone to a child?

  
Guess he had no choice but to adopt the kid and hope that he'd understand. 


End file.
